I want to correct any misconceptions that may have been raised by my previous posts linking supply management performance to pay scales.

True, the anectodal stories and empirical data I referenced show a direct correlation between supply management salaries and performance. What doesn’t show up in this data: Top-performers not only recruit the best talent and pay the highest salaries, but they also put all team members through rigorous training and conditioning to ensure sustainable results.

Trust me, as a New York Yankees fan, I know the benefits of buying a great team. (A fact my wife, an ardent Red Sox fan, reminds me of often.) But what has made the Yankees so great over the years is that they have balanced top-paid all-stars with great managers and a top-notch farm system. (A fact my wife refuses to aknowledge.)

How do you create a great supply management farm system? I posed this question earlier this week during a brief meeting with Dr. Joe Carter, Avnet Professor of Supply Chain Management and Department Chair at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. An oversimplification of his answer (no professor ever gives a short answer):

1. Train your existing team.
2. Repeat step #1.

Widely recognized supply management leaders, such as John Deere, Motorola, and Toyota have aligned themselves with leading graduate schools to develop and hone the skills of team members. Most of the top supply management graduate schools offer both standard and custom programs. Here’s a quick reference guide to some of the leading executive supply management programs:

• ASU W.P. Carey School of Business
• Michigan State University Eli Broad Graduate School of Management
• Penn State Smeal College of Business
• The Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech

Development and training helps elevate the skill sets, morale, and overall value of your team. It also helps to reinforce the use of standard procedures and fosters the exchange of best-practices between teammates. There is also evidence that training improves employee retention. (More on that subject in future posts.)

Email Forward & Bookmarks

Close this WindowBookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

DotNetKicks Digg diigo dropjack.com dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl

Google Hugg Jeqq Kaboodle linkaGoGo LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb Netvouz

Newsvine PlugIM popcurrent Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy sk*rt Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl.net Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Webride Windows Live Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »